Improvement in spring-hook fastenings for garments



NITED STATES c PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID M. SMITH, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT, I

IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING-HOOK FASTENINGS FOR GARMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,920, dated June 16, 1863.

To all whom z5 may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID M. SMITH, of Springeld, in the county of Windsor and State of Vermont, have invented a new and Improved Spring Hook or Fastening for Wrappers, Garments, and other Articles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

- clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specifica-tion, in which- Figure 1 is a side sectional view of my invention, taken in the line x w, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a back view ofthe same Fig. 3, an end view of the same; Fig. 4, an end view of a hook or fastening on which mineis an improvement.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspending parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an improvement on a hook or fastening designed more especially for soldiers india-rubber wrappers or blankets, to secure the same on the wearer, and also to fasten the wrappers or blankets together to form tents or coverings for a plurality of men, and for which hook or fastening Letters Patent were granted to Abel Putnam, Jr., bearing date November 1l, 1862.

This hook or fastening has been thoroughly tested, and, with one exception only, answers a good purpose. VIt was formed ot' a springhook, constructed by bending a piece of wire so as to be doubled, and then bent in hook form. One end of the spring-hook is longer than the other, and the long end is attached to a button, the short end heilig' free or disengaged, and constituting a spring to retain or hold the hook in the eyelet of the garment. There is one difficulty, however, attending this hook or fastening', and that is that the short and free end ofthe hook sometimes admits of the hook canting around and catching over the edge of the eyelet, causing considerable embarrassment. V

My invention is designed to obviate this difficulty 5 and it consists in having the free or disengaged end of the spring extended, or of sufiicientlength to admit of its passing through a slot in the back plate of the button, so that the said end of the spring will be fully covered or not exposed, so as to catch over the edge of the eyelet.

To enable those skilled in the art to .fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a button or knob, to which a hook, B, is attached, said hook being formed of a single piece of wire, doubled so as to form two parts in V form, and then bent so as to form a hook. (See more particularly Figs. 1 and 2.) One end, a, or" this spring is attached permanently to the button; but the other end, a', is left free or disen gaged, and passes through a slot, b, in the back plate, c, of the button, as shown in Fig. 2, said slot being of sufcient length to admit of the end a of the spring working back and forth a requisite distance. The elasticity of the spring is such as to keep the free end a of the spring against the end of the slot b. The end a', after passing through the slot b, is bent over, as shown in Fig. 1, so that it will be retained in proper position. By this arrangement it will be seen that when the hook is fitted in the eyelet the spring or elasticity of the hook will cause it to be retained or held in the eyelet of the garment. (See Fig. 3, in which an eyelet and a portion of a garment are shown in red outline.)

The hook or fastening patented by Putnam, and previously alluded to, is shown in Fig. 4. Itwill be seen by referring to this figure that the free or disengaged end d of the hook does not enter the back plate, e, of the button of said hook, but is exposed, so that it is liable to catch over the edge of the eyelet, which is shown in red outline, and in endeavoring to adjust the hook properly the free end or part of the hook is frequently strained or bent outward, so as to break or become strained, or permanently injured. This difficulty is fully obviated by my invention, while the advantage of the Putnam hook or fastening is retained.

I do not claim, broadly or separately, the spring-hook connected to a button or knob, irrespective of the arrangement herein shown and described, for that has been already patented, as herein stated; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isv Extending the free or disengaged end a of the .spring or elastic hook B through an oblong slot, b, in the back plate, c, ofthe button or knob A, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

DAVID M. SMITH.

Witnesses:

SAML. W. PORTER, JOHN PERKINS. p 

